It’s time for a short E-m5 recap!

1) Damian MacGillycuddy (Click here) started a new Olympus competition and posted a new E-M5 nude picture.

2) Federico Cabrera (Click here) posted some fashion photos taken with the E-M5. Nice!

3) Full resolution OM-D E-M5 samples compared to Pen E-P3, Lumix GH2 and Sony Alpha 55 at Four Thirds User (Click here).

So, when will our postman deliver us the E-M5? BHphoto (Click here) still says it’s coming on April 16th. Amazon UK (Click here) says the E-M5 will now ship within 1-3 months. Amazon Japan and Digitalrev will ship the camera from March 31th. Amazon US (CLick here) doesn’t share any info and the first [shoplink 29946 ebay]eBay preorders (Click here)[/shoplink] are up via Malaysian store :)
I don’t believe Olympus will be able to ship all the E-M5 preorders. The requests are really high and the E-M5 Olympus camera keeps staying on the Amazon US top seller list (Click here).
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Here are all full store search linsk I check from time to time to see if the E-M5 shipment/preorder status changes:
[shoplist 29074]

The Shires from Andrew Reid on Vimeo.

UPDATE: Andrew from SLRmagic told us that Seb got a very early lens prototype that very likely has an issue. This means the video on top very likely doen’t show the full potential of the Hyperprime lens! A more represenative video has been shot by EosHD (Click here).

Seb Farges (Click here) tested the two lenses on the hacked [shoplink 16254]Panasonic GH2[/shoplink] and writes: “My opinion ? mmmm the Noctilux is an extraordinary lens, good rendering at f/0.95, smooth focus ring. This lens is a little smaller and lighter than the SLR Magic lens. It’s in M mount (Leica). The problem : the [shoplink 23018 ebay]Noctilux is too expensive for me, 8000€ (10600$)[/shoplink]!!! Please note that the SLR Magic I’ve used here is a prototype lens. It’s be available in september in M mount, it’s price is not fixed yet, but it will be around 2300€ (3000$), 3.5X less cheaper than the Leica. The SLR has more color aberration (purple fringing), mostly when the focus is not perfect.”

P.S.: The Leica Noctilux crazy price check on [shoplink 23018 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. Speaking of our m43 0.95 lenses here are the links to:
1) [shoplink 15659 ebay]Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95 on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
2) [shoplink 29927 ebay]Voigtländer Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95 on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
3) [shoplink 25691 ebay]SLRmagic 50mm f/0.95 on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

Looking at the picture on top made by DSLRmagazine the new Sigma 30mm f/2.8 lens doesn’t look bad at all. But the naked truth is that the lens specifications aren’t appealing at the first look. But we are ready to get over this if the lens performance is top notch. So let’s read the latest review from Valentin at DSLRmagazine (Click here to read the translation). In short, the lens has no flaws. It performs well in every aspect with just a slightly Chromatic Aberration you can easily correct in post production. Overall this is not a bad lens you get for $200 at Hphoto.

Laoburi (Click here) posted a set of image samples taken with the other new Sigma 19mm f/2.8 lens. I haven’t yet found any preorder option of that lens.

Rankings: Silver E-M5 kits are still selling more than the black ones and than more than the Fuji X PRO 1 according to Amazon US rankings (Click here).

E-M5 preorders (Click on the names of the stores to see the product page):
Black E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, and Amazon Japan.
Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto , Digitalrev and J&R.
Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland , Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.

Speaking of the hacker Vitaly, I kindly ask you to support him for the NAB show coverage (Click here). The NABshow is the biggest broadcast video event of the year (Click here to see the official website)

P.S.: From time to time the Gh2 gets some super deal like it was with the now ended [shoplink 29671 ebay]GH2 with 14-140mm for $899 on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. Drop me a message if you find more deals like that so that I can share it with other 43rumors readers! Thanks!
Here are some GH2 search links: [shopcountry 16254].

The Singapore website Hardwarezone (Click here) published a full Olympus E-M5 review. The camera earns nine points out of ten: “We could list its specs: 16MP image sensor, 5-axis image stabilization, weather-resistant body. We could tell you how well the camera handles with the twin control dials, quick AF speed and easy AF point selection. We could wax lyrical about its gorgeous, retro-inspired look. We could look at its images’ beautiful colors and remarkable high ISO performance. But it’s when these elements are brought together that something altogether new is born: Charm. Any photographer would be hard-pressed not to have fun shooting with the E-M5. The mostly well-placed controls let you give it swift commands which are promptly obeyed. Its quick and accurate auto-focus, together with the excellent image stabilization and image quality at higher ISO speeds, conspire to help you catch the most fleeting of moments.”

Ok, we already know the E-M5 is a great camera but how does the image quality compare with the best of its class, the Fuji X PRO 1? Yesterday I published a probably not so fair E-M5 versus X PRO 1 image comparison at MirrorlessRumors (Click here). You can click that link to see the image of the full ISO comparison: http://i.minus.com/igOc5QWXHZSII.jpg. It’s not so fair because the E-M5 shots were taken with the kit zoom lens while the X PRO 1 used the very likely much better 18mm f/2.0 prime lens. So don’t care too much about the sharpness while noise will not be so effected by the lens quality. What do you think?

E-M5 preorders (Click on the names of the stores to see the product page):
Black E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, and Amazon Japan.
Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto , Digitalrev and J&R.
Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland , Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.

Olympus OM-D + M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-50 mm f/3,5-6,3 EZ from DSLR Magazine on Vimeo.

There is a new Olympus 12-50mm lens test at DSLRmagazine (Click here for the google translation). The test is very detailed and proves that the lens has some flaws. It’s an average quality kit lens that his strengths int he features list more than in the optical quality. But overall the lens is a real bargain for what it delivers when you buy it as kit lens along the [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink]!

Also Lenstip (Click here) reviewed the lens: “I like writing the summaries of Olympus optics because usually I can praise the tested lenses. Olympus has always produced good lenses. Unfortunately the summary of the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 12–50 mm f/3.5–6.3 ED EZ will be an exception because it won’t feature a lot of praise.”

P.S.: the german Fotomagazine (Click here) posted the full E-M5 ISO test images.

E-M5 preorders (Click on the names of the stores to see the product page):
Black E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, and Amazon Japan.
Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto , Digitalrev and J&R.

Valentin Sama from the Spanish Dslrmagazine (Click here for the translation) tested the E-M5 sensor.
He first compared the new E-M5 with the previous m43 Olympus models. In short the noise performance of the E-m5 has indeed been improved but there is no real advantage in terms of revolution over the older 12 Megapixel E-P3 sensor. Valentin says the E-P3 per pixel sharpness is still a bit greater than the one from the 16 Megapixel E-M5 sensor.
Than Valentin made a comparison with two larger sensor APS-C cameras. The Nikon D7000 and Fuji X PRO 1. First he clearly reminds that both cameras are more expensive than the E.M5. The Nikon D7000 costs $1,500 (here at Amazon) and the Fuji X PRo 1 costs $1,700 (here at Amazon). According to Valentin JPEG testing results the E-M5 is on par with the Nikon D7000. And that’s already a surprising result!
The Fuji has a huge advantage because of the lack Anti Aliasing filter. The results are a greater clarity and less noise.

In summary: he says the E-M5 has indeed an improved JPEG quality although we have to see if that is an improvement is more due the new JPEG engine than the new 16 megapixel sensor.

One more thing: E-M5 with 12-50mm kit lens image samples at Robin Wong (Click here).

Rankings: Three different E-M5 kits are still on top of the Amazon US rankings (Click here).

E-M5 preorders (Click on the names of the stores to see the product page):
Black E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, and Amazon Japan.
Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto , Digitalrev and J&R.
Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland , Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.